Underneath The Mistletoe
by MrandMrsStinson
Summary: This story is fluffy drabbles based on Christmas prompts, in honour of Christmas coming up! It's based on Swarkles, as is most stuff I write, but I may toss in a few centred around the other two couples. There will be twenty-five stories, one for each day in December until Christmas Day. It's set in December 2013, so could quite possibly be canon. Happy holidays, everyone!
1. Baubles

**A/N**

 **Guess what, I am alive, guys! I'm working really hard on my new story, which is so hard to write, plus I have the distractions of trying to finish chapter 15 of Happily Ever After and chapter 19 of Lyrics of Our Lives. I promise they will all be out soon. I honestly couldn't help myself, I had to write this story. I am one of those people who gets really into Christmas, so this story was inevitable.**

 **I am going to _try_ , and I emphasize try, because we all know I am not great at updating regularly, to publish one Christmas themed Swarkles (possibly changing to Marshall and Lily or Ted and Tracy in some chapters) chapter every day until the 25th. **

**If you have any ideas please PM prompts, as I am going to have a lot of trouble finding them, lol. And as always, please R/R, favourite and follow. Happy December guys! :)**

…

Robin looked up at her husband. His smile melted her heart. This was their first Christmas as a married couple, and they had wanted to do it right. So, instead of breaking into Ted's and stealing his Christmas tree and decorations, which was Barney's original plan, they had gone to the store and bought their own, and now they were at a Christmas tree farm in New Jersey to get a tree.

Robin shivered and she felt Barney pull her closer to him. It was the first day of Winter, but it was already snowing. The newlyweds were walking through the four inches of snow, Barney with an arm around Robin's hips, and an axe in the other hand. Robin had her hand in his back pocket and the other in her pocket. From an outsiders perspective, they may have looked like a grossly sappy couple, but in honesty they were both close, and _liked_ being close. Touching each other, without a sexual motivation, whether it be cuddling in bed, holding hands when they walked or stealing kisses when they were out, reminded them that they weren't alone. They had each other. It filled them both with an unexplainable burst of overwhelming love for their spouse.

"So, Mrs Stinson, do we have a preference of which tree we want?" Barney asked.

"I don't know, babe. What do you want?"

Barney shrugged. He hadn't done this before. Normally, he'd just buy the pre-cut trees from the store. Robin was determined to do this the proper way, though, and he would do anything to make her happy. He was enjoying today so far. They had gotten hot chocolate at a café nearby, then had an impromptu snowball fight in the parking lot, and now they were walking through the snow looking for a tree. "What kind are you supposed to look for?"

"We want tall, but it still has to fit in the elevator, or you're dragging it up the stairs. And, it has to smell like pinecones."

Barney cocked his head. "Smell like pinecones?"

"Yeah. At home, my house wasn't a great place to be. My mom and dad were constantly fighting. But, my fondest childhood memories are from December. The whole house used to smell like pinecones, cinnamon and candy canes." She smiled. "One year, my dad got so drunk-"

"Woah, woah, baby!" Barney exclaimed, letting go of her so he could look her in the eyes. "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing. He was just so drunk he called me darling all day, and even got me a doll that year. It was probably the only time during my childhood he treated me like a girl."

Barney could tell she was fighting back tears, so quickly intervened. "Okay, weirdo. You can get a tree that smells like pinecones."

…

"I don't think this will fit in the car, babe." Barney commented, as they dragged the tree along the ground.

Robin laughed. "It goes on the roof, city boy."

"Oh, right, okay."

…

Once Barney and Robin managed to finally get the tree into the apartment, they started to decorate it with lights, tinsel and baubles.

"Isn't this much better than ties?" Robin asked.

"Eh, I guess." Barney teased. A silence fell over the two, when Barney got an idea. He grabbed his phone from the coffee table, and unlocked it. The code was 230780, Robin's birthday, not that he would tell anyone that. He found a Christmas playlist and played it. _All I Want for Christmas Is You_ started playing. He started singing and looked over to Robin.

She rolled her eyes. "What are you doing, dork?"

"Come on Canada, you gotta know this song." He paused and waited for the chorus, then started almost yelling the lyrics. Robin laughed, then shrugged and joined in.

…

Ted and Tracy neared the door to Barney and Robin's apartment. They could hear Christmas music coming from inside. Ted bit his lip and looked at his girlfriend.

"I really hope they aren't having sex." Tracy commented.

Ted snickered. "It's probably a weird fetish of Barney's."

They reached for the door and opened it. To the couple's surprise, when they stepped into the apartment, instead of finding their friends naked, they found the two pelting plastic baubles at each other and singing to Jingle Bells at the top of their lungs.

"Barney, Robin?" Ted asked, a little creeped out.

"Oh…" Barney said, reaching over to pause the music. "Hey guys."

Tracy laughed. This was amusing her. She and Ted had only been dating for six months, so she didn't know his friends that well, but she knew them well enough to know this was a weird sight.

Ted shook his head. "You two are so weird."

Robin crossed her arms. "While you and Tracy choose to express your love through poems and whatever other crap, Barney and I choose to express it through singing at the top of our lungs, dancing and throwing stuff at each other."

"Okay, but we have more serious problems than how you express love to your husband." Ted sighed. "I just heard from Marshall. Lily's doctor won't let her on the plane, she's too far along in her pregnancy. They're not coming home for Christmas. Which means-"

"We're going to Italy for Christmas!" Barney exclaimed.

"I was actually going to say that we're spending Christmas without them."

Robin shook her head. "We can't do that. Lily would be crushed. She loves Italy, but she still says she's homesick. She, Marshall and Marvin are family, we can't spend Christmas without them."

Tracy smiled. "So, we're going to Italy for Christmas?"

"Sì!" Barney yelled.

…

 **A/N**

 **Hope you like these drabbles! I'll definitely be publishing another one tomorrow. Please leave a review, and favourite/follow if you liked it!**


	2. Kisses

**A/N**

 **Sorry in advance for the times these chapters come. Stupid time zones and all, lol. Have a good day/night! :)**

…

Robin switched the bag of takeout into her other arm. She was wrestling between that, two bags of groceries and her purse, while also trying to get her keys out. She reached for the door handle to the apartment, and was surprised to find it unlocked. She didn't think Barney would be home yet.

She opened the door, and the sight that greeted her made her jump.

"Jesus Christ, Barney!" Robin yelled, dropping her bags to the floor. Her husband was standing directly in the doorway.

"God, you look gorgeous today." He said with a smile.

"Why are you trying to give me a heart attack? I don't think your widow pension would be _that_ much."

Barney laughed and shook his head. He wrapped his arms around her waist and raised an eyebrow, pointing to the doorway above her. Mistletoe. She should've known.

Robin shook her head and laughed, before resting her hands on the back of his neck. She allowed him to pull her in closer and gently press his lips to hers.

When they pulled apart, Barney got down to pick up the bags Robin had dropped. The takeaway from the Indian restaurant near WWN had splattered open when it fell, making the food inedible.

"Come on!" Robin groaned, dropping to the ground beside him to help clean up the mess. "I was looking forward to that."

"Let's just order pizza." Barney suggested.

Robin nodded. "Okay." She stood up. "I'm gonna go change."

She started towards the bedroom and Barney followed. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she entered. "Look, there's another string of mistletoe."

"Oh my god, Barney."

…

After the pizza arrived, the pair sat down to watch a movie. It was snowing outside and they were sharing a blanket, so they both agreed it was way to corny to watch a Christmas movie. They settled on Die Hard. Just when they were getting to the climax, Robin's phone started ringing.

"Let it ring." Barney moaned, as Robin got off the couch from beside him to get it.

She checked the caller ID. "I can't. It's Lily." She clicked answer. "Hey, Lil. What's up?"

"YOU GUYS ARE COMING TO ITALY?" She yelled. Robin came back to the couch and sat beside her husband.

"Yeah, Lil. We'll fly out on the 20th of December."

"How did you guys get tickets that close to Christmas?"

Robin smiled. "I'm not sure. Barney did it. He probably has illegal ties with the airport or something."

"I do not!" Barney protested. "Can you two please speed up this conversation? We were kinda in the middle of something, Lil."

"Oh, sorry. Were you guys banging?"

Robin smiled. "No, we were just watching a movie. Barney just has no patience."

"Damn right I don't. I want to finish the movie. Bye Lily." Barney snatched the phone from his wife's hands and hung up. He smiled at Robin and pulled her closer. She shrugged and buried her face deeper into his chest. Barney grinned and kissed the top of her head. Being a cute couple was fun sometimes.

…

 **A/N**

 **This is super short, sorry. Tomorrow's will be longer. I did say short drabbles.**


	3. Cookies

**A/N**

 **My heart.**

…

Barney watched as Robin pulled ingredients out of the cupboard and put them on the counter. He still didn't understand her fascination with this idea, or why she was so determined on making Christmas cookies from scratch, but he found it better not to question her.

"Why couldn't we have just made cookies from the packet, or even better yet, gotten some from the store?" Barney asked.

"Because, this is more fun." Robin replied.

Barney laughed. "Yeah, because we're both magnificent chefs."

"Okay, Barney. When we're old and grey and being awesome in a nursing home together, are we going to look back on our first Christmas as a married couple and remember the time we ate cookies bought from the store, or remember trying to make cookies together?"

Barney noted how she said that they'd be together when they were old, and he wouldn't tell her, but it melted his heart. She was right, though. "Okay, okay, you're right. Let's make the cookies."

…

"Okay, we just have to stir the flour and eggs, then add the milk…" Robin trailed off, staring at the recipe on her phone. "What the hell is a sift? Siri, what's a-"

Barney smiled and held out a sift to his wife. "Here."

"Thank you." She cracked the egg into the sift.

"Robin!"

"What?"

"You don't…you can't…have you never baked anything before?"

She crossed her arms. "No. No I haven't. How do you know so much about baking anyways?"

Barney shrugged. "James and I used to make cookies and cupcakes with mom a lot."

Robin smiled. "Aww."

"Shut up."

…

Robin raised her hand for a high five after they put the cookies in the oven. "Good job, partner. We did it."

"Good job!" He replied, returning the high five.

Robin yawned. "Now I'm gonna go take a nap, because that took a lot of work."

"Me too. I'm exhausted."

…

In hindsight, one of them should've remembered the oven was on. Neither did. They woke up four hours later to the smell of smoke and the fire alarm going crazy.

Barney darted out of bed and was in the kitchen in a second. Robin was a little slower, but when she finally made it into the kitchen, the whole place had a thick layer of fog from the smoke. She started throwing stuff at the alarm to get it to turn off. Barney reached into the oven and retrieved the cookies. They were black and shriveled up. He shoved them into the sink and turned the oven off. Finally, after Robin hit the alarm with a book, it turned off.

She started coughing from the smoke, so Barney opened the balcony door and pulled her outside with him.

"You okay?" Barney asked, wrapping his arms around her as they stood outside in the cold.

Robin nodded. The fresh air was helping. "Let's not try cooking again, deal?"

"Deal." Barney laughed, kissing her forehead.

…

 **A/N**

 **Okay, this is shorter than yesterdays, but it's super hard to write long chapters. Hope you don't mind. I should have chapters for my other stories out soon :)**


	4. Snowballs

**A/N**

 **Little later today, sorry. Hope everyone has a good day :)**

…

Robin opened the door to Barney's office, and was surprised to see several men sitting across from him. He had organized to have lunch with her today, and she was under the impression that he was free from meetings all day. Barney looked up and smiled at her, holding up one finger. She nodded and dropped to the couch to wait for him.

"Look, it's obvious this isn't going to end quickly, and I have more important things to do. So, if you wouldn't mind showing yourselves out, I'll see you tomorrow." Barney said, trying to speed the men along.

The men started getting up and heading towards the door. One spun around to look at Barney. "Whatever, Stinson. This isn't over."

"Oh, I'm sure it's not." Barney replied as the door closed behind them. Robin stood up and walked around to the other side of the desk, sitting on Barney's lap.

"You look rattled. Are you alright?"

He nodded. "I'm fine. Don't worry, baby. I just don't know how to handle these guys. It's okay. I'll figure it out."

"Okay. Do you wanna get lunch another day? You said you have important stuff to do, and I don't want you stressing about that."

Barney smiled and waved it off. "I have no work. But, you're important, and I want to do you." He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her.

Robin pushed away. "Slow your roll, Romeo. I'm starving. Let's eat, then you _might_ get lucky."

"Fine."

…

"Hey Robin?" Barney asked. The two were walking to a nearby restaurant. It was snowing again, and there was another few good inches of snow on the ground.

"Yeah?" She asked, a snowball smashing into her face as she spun around. "Oh, you wanna play that game, Stinson? Let's play." She gave a menacing grin and ducked behind a car to collect snowballs.

Barney laughed and blindly pelted a few more at the car. Robin grinned as she stayed behind it, using it to shelter her from him. She made a stash of snowballs and collected them in her arms. She commando crawled around the side of the car and threw them at his back, as he was turning around to look for her. She blew her cover, and Barney ran for her, throwing her over his shoulder into a fireman's carry.

"Put me down!" Robin demanded.

Barney grinned. "Nah." He was heading towards a particularly large pile of snow, and had every intention of dropping her onto it.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Robin laughed, as she shoved the few snowballs still in her hands down his shirt.

Barney gasped and dropped her to the ground. "ROBIN!"

Robin was laughing so hard her sides hurt. "That's called karma."

"I'll give you karma!" Barney yelled with a grin, dropping to the ground to collect more snowballs.

The two started another snowball fight, and they continued for ages. People were giving them weird looks, but neither really cared. They were immature, but whatever. They were having fun, and that was all that mattered.


	5. Gifts

**A/N**

 **Sorry about the lack of posting, I've been sick these past few days, and I wasn't super motivated to write. I'm not sure when, but I'll post the extra chapters to make up for it, and I will have 25 chapters by Christmas Day. Enjoy this chapter :)**

…

Robin studied the toys in front of her. She was really struggling with what to buy people for Christmas. Marvin, Eli and Sadie especially. What are you supposed to buy a three-year-old girl and a two-year-old and six-year-old boy for Christmas? Toys? Clothes? iPhones? She had no idea what kids these days liked. Barney was no help. He was currently getting excited over toy lightsabers. At least he hadn't complained about coming shopping. In fact, he had happily obliged.

"Barney, focus!" Robin called.

Barney looked up. "What?"

"Stop playing with the lightsaber, and come help me decide what to get your niece and nephews."

He put the toy back in its place and walked over to his wife, slinking an arm around her waist. "To be fair, they're your niece and nephews too."

"Not the point."

"Sorry. What are you thinking of getting?"

Robin shrugged. "No idea. What do you think?"

"Sades likes My Little Pony, right? What about stuffed animals?"

Robin sighed. "That's boring, babe. What about clothes or a necklace with her name? Bath bombs? Dolls? She lives with two guys, think of things they wouldn't think of getting her."

"Sure, that's cute. And Eli wanted games for his Xbox. We could get those and a new soccer ball."

"Games have to be G rated."

Barney nodded. "Duh."

Robin knelt down and pulled a box from the shelf. It showed a picture of a toddler playing with a little basketball rink. "What about this for Marvin?"

Barney laughed. "Okay. Marshall will be so proud."

…

"Hey, baby? What's Lily's size? This looks like something she would wear." Barney asked, pulling a shirt from the rack. They had mostly finished their Christmas shopping, and had wandered into the department store, looking for a few more gifts.

Robin spun around to look at it. "That's pretty, Barn. She's normally an eight, but she's pregnant. I have no idea what size she is now."

"Good point." Barney replied, putting the shirt back on the rack. He turned around and put his arm around his wife as he brainstormed. "What about earrings or something?"

"Yeah, maybe." Robin replied, as her eyes wandered around the store. She noticed a display and walked over to it. Barney followed her and read over her shoulder. It was a diffuser. "Would Lily like this?"

He nodded. "Probably. Pair it with a few candles and then some pacifiers, swaddles and clothes for the baby, and she'd love it."

…

"So, meet at the car in an hour?" Robin asked. Barney nodded. They had mostly finished buying for everyone else, and would buy everything else from Amazon. Now, they were splitting up to buy gifts for each other. Barney had already gotten most of Robin's gifts online, but he had a few more things to go with them. He was planning on spoiling her with gifts. It _is_ their first Christmas as a married couple, after all.

"Yep." He reached over and kissed her. Then they headed in different directions.

Barney had his shops planned out. He needed to go to the jewelry engraver and possibly a clothing store. He had troubles trying to figure out what to get her. He wanted to get something sweet, but it couldn't be too sappy.

"Can I help you?" A man asked, as Barney pushed the door open.

"Oh, hey. I'm looking for a necklace. Engraved, please."

The man nodded. "Which one?" He waved Barney over to a case of simple necklaces. They were pretty, and not too extravagant. Barney wrinkled his nose. Extravagant was his thing. He wandered over to another case, and found the nicest looking pendant he had ever seen. It was two entwined hearts, one of which was diamond encrusted. There was a solid line, which was perfect for what he wanted to engrave onto it. Robin would love it.

Barney pointed to it. "I'll take that one." The man got it out of the case and handed it to him. Barney nodded. He loved it, and knew Robin would too. "Can you engrave it?"

"With?"

Barney smiled. "05/25/13 until forever."

…

 **A/N**

 **I'm a little concerned that this one is boring, but I had to spread the exciting chapters out, and it's difficult to come up with 25 really exciting chapters. Hope you liked it anyway, and I promise there will be more exciting chapters coming.**


	6. Flowers

**December 6th**

 **A/N**

 **Guys, I finally got a prompt for everyday! Yay! This is sad, I'm sorry. I really just** ** _love_** **making myself cry. I don't think this could offend anyone, but if it does, I'm really sorry.**

…

Barney decided that hospitals are possibly the worst place to be, especially around Christmas. The whole place is so sad looking. The decorations really do nothing to disguise the fact that it's a hospital. Most people are still having unimaginably horrible days here. People are losing their children, parents, friends and significant others. As a husband, Barney sympathizes with the men here who lose their wives. Robin dying tops his list of worst things that could possibly happen.

He shook himself out of his bad thoughts and looked over to Robin. She was laughing at Tracy making fun of Ted.

"So, Trace. How do we do this?" Barney asked. One of Tracy's yearly traditions around the holidays, was bringing gifts to sick people in hospitals. This year, she had forced Ted, Robin and Barney to do it with her. At first, Barney was a little squeamish because he hates hospitals, but he now realized how important this was. How much difference even a bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolates could make to someone's life.

"The front desk has lists of rooms we can go to. Then, we just go to those rooms." She explained.

Barney nodded. "What about the kids?"

"This isn't a children's hospital. Besides, there are plenty of people who visit sick kids. They get people in to play Santa and give all the kids gifts. Everyone forgets the adults."

…

The more rooms they went to, the more desolate Barney became. He realised that this was so special for the patients and their partners, and he understood why it was such an important tradition to Tracy. Everyone had a sad story, but the one that affected him the most was the last room they went to.

"Hello?" Tracy whispered as she opened the door. A tired man looked up and gave a small smile. He was holding hands with a woman who was asleep in the bed. She looked pale and very sick. Tracy noticed she was asleep and looked at the man. "I'm so sorry, should we come back later?"

The man shook his head. "It's fine, she sleeps like a rock." He looked at the woman with so much love.

Tracy handed him the flowers, chocolate and stuffed bear. "Merry Christmas."

He smiled. "Thank you so much. Please, have a seat."

Robin, Barney, Tracy and Ted sat down on the seats scattered around the room. "Oh, how rude of us. I'm Tracy, and this is my boyfriend Ted. These are our friends Robin and her husband, Barney."

"You four are so sweet, going around giving gifts to everyone. We all really need it. It's tough here, especially around the holidays. I'm Oliver, by the way, and this is Holly." Barney reached over and grasped Robin's hand.

"Oh, we can only imagine how tough it is. I'm so sorry." Ted chimed in.

"What happened?" Barney asked, receiving glares from Robin and Ted. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that."

Oliver smiled. "It's okay. I don't mind. It's good to talk about it. We had been on our honeymoon when Holly started feeling horribly unwell. Bloated all the time, vomiting, feeling really sore around the lower stomach, headaches, a massive loss of weight. At first, we thought she was pregnant, so I got her a test. It was negative, so we ignored the symptoms and assumed she had some kind of tropical flu or whatever. It went away for a while, but she collapsed at work four months later. We rushed her to hospital, and she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She's been sick now for three months…yeah, three months. We got married in May, so seven months technically, but in hospital for three."

Barney inhaled sharply. This couple were around the same ages as him and Robin, and they got married in May, just like the two of them did. They were in a situation that could so easily be his and Robin's situation. He squeezed Robin's hand. She looked at him. They were both thinking the same thing. It was terrible.

"We're getting through it. Holly's a fighter."

…

The four stayed in Holly's room, talking with Oliver for almost an hour. They finally stepped back out into the hall, and Barney pulled Robin closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his head in her hair.

"I love you so much." He whispered.

"I love you too." She whispered back.

…

 **A/N**

 **It's short, I know. I didn't have time. Excited for tomorrows chapter :)**


	7. Skating

**A/N**

 **This challenge is so much harder than I expected, lol. This chapter came to me late last night, but I like it.**

…

Barney fumbled with the laces on his skates as he watched Robin tie hers with ease. He was worried about this idea to begin with. He wasn't the greatest skater on an indoor rink, so on a literal frozen lake could possibly end in disaster. The lake really didn't look that frozen, but Robin assured him it would be fine. Besides, there were plenty of other people skating here.

Robin looked across at him and laughed. "Need some help, babe?"

"…Yeah." Barney admitted.

She laughed and dropped to her knees to tighten his ice skates for him. She stood up and took his hand, leading him onto the lake. Since they weren't in an indoor arena, there was no wall for Barney to hold onto. So, instead he placed all his trust in Robin. He had a white knuckle grip on her hands.

"Barney, you're going to break my hands."

"Better than me breaking my tailbone when I fall."

Robin laughed. "Thanks. You deserve the hubby of the year award for that one."

"I didn't mean it like that! Of course, I'd rather be hurt than have you hurt."

"Come on, scaredy cat." Robin started skating backwards, pulling him along gently.

…

After skating for a while, Barney became more confident. Confident enough to start skating on his own. He was going good, until the front of his skate caught on a divot in the ice, sending him flying forward. He grabbed onto Robin as he fell, trying to steady himself, but he just ended up pulling her down with him.

The two landed on the ice hard, but they were both laughing.

"You're so uncoordinated, Barn."

"We knew that already. Sorry, though, I didn't mean to pull you down."

Robin laughed. "It's fine."

Barney managed to stand up first, miraculously without slicing his hand open on the blade. He held a hand out to Robin and pulled her to her feet. He leant down to kiss her. Robin returned the kiss, then quickly let go of him and sped away laughing.

"Hey!" He cried, starting to skate in her direction, laughing.

…

 **A/N**

 **Sorry this is so short! My original idea was terrible. I'm working on getting two chapters of Happily Ever After out, so I can get a Christmas chapter out before Christmas. Pray for me, guys. I have** ** _way_** **too much to write.**


	8. Reindeer

**A/N**

 **Please, if I ever decide to do a chapter a day challenge again, can someone remind me of this story? Thanks guys for being so patient, because I know I'm pretty bad at uploading regularly :)**

…

Barney looked at his niece and nephew. Eli was clutching his hand and excitedly jumping up and down, while Sadie was in Robin's arms, snuggling into her neck. He couldn't get over how natural it looked to see Robin with a kid. He and Robin had volunteered to take Eli and Sadie to the cinema for the day, because they wanted to spend time with their niece and nephew.

"Okay, guys. What movie do you wanna see?" Barney asked. He peered at the board. There were heaps of Christmas movies showing.

Eli looked up, attempting to read the board. He was in first grade, and learning how to read. He was pretty good at it. "Love…Acting?"

"So close, Eli! It's Love, Actually." Robin corrected.

Barney nodded and high fived the six-year-old. "But we're not seeing that. It's a grown up's movie."

"Oh, okay. What do the others say?"

"A Christmas Carol, we don't wanna see that, it's boring. The Grinch, potential option. Reindeer Games? I haven't heard of that." Barney read aloud. He looked across to Robin, silently asking whether she'd seen it or not. She shrugged.

"I want to see that one!" Eli cried. "Reindeer Games, like how Rudolph plays games with the other reindeers! Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose-" He stopped singing to look up at his uncle. "Don't you know the song!"

"I know the song."

"Then sing with me!" Eli cried. "-and if you ever saw it, you would even say it glowed."

Sadie and Barney joined in. "All of the other reindeers, used to laugh and call him names."

Robin laughed at the singing ensemble and stepped up to the counter to buy the tickets.

…

James had specifically told Barney and Robin not to buy any sugar for the kids, other than popcorn. That was no fun. What aunt and uncle take their nieces and nephews out and don't drop them home loaded up on sugar? So now, Eli and Sadie were sitting beside Robin and Barney in the cinema, each with slushies, candy, popcorn and chocolate.

The movie began, rather violently. It was hard for the kids to follow along with the story. But, it wasn't until the first sex scene that Robin and Barney realised. Both quickly shoved a hand over the kids' eyes.

"This is not PG. This is R." Robin stated. "Let's go, now."

"Roger that." Barney responded, grabbing Robin's bag and the food that the kids hadn't eaten.

…

The four got the hell out of that cinema, and Robin and Barney bribed Eli and Sadie to stay quiet to James and Tom with twenty bucks each, and taking them to see another movie. The Grinch, this time.

Barney burst out laughing on the drive back after dropping Eli and Sadie off. "Okay, we scarred the kids a little, so what? Hey, I think it's a win. They could've caught us doing it instead."

"True." Robin replied. He was right, it was kinda funny.

…

 **A/N**

 **Working super hard to get chapters out. In this story, they're all going to be short. I'm so sleep deprived…:)**


	9. Eggnog

**A/N**

 **Thank you** **Boris Yeltsin** **so much for the prompt :)**

...

Barney woke up at eight, when the sunlight was just starting to spill into the room. It was winter, so the sun didn't rise till much later. He looked to his side, where Robin was passed out. She had been so drunk last night. He felt terrible. He should've stopped her from drinking earlier. He had stayed sober at GNB's Christmas party last night, just knowing she was going to drink a lot. He ended up finally dragging her home after his drunken colleagues started yelling at her to strip.

Dragging was a strong word. She was too drunk to resist, and had passed out in the cab, so he ended up carrying her home. He was seriously angry at his coworkers and employees, though. Yelling at his wife to strip for them was hardly appropriate.

He got up and buzzed around the kitchen, getting water and aspirin, then putting it beside their bed.

…

Robin woke up feeling sicker than she had in a long time. Her half of the bed was covered in sweat, and she had a killer headache and she was nauseous. She tried to recall what happened last night, but couldn't remember anything past arriving at GNB's Christmas party with Barney.

"Barney?" She called out, moaning at the sound of her own voice.

He appeared in the doorway quickly and gently sat on the end of the bed, running his hand through her hair. "Hey, baby. Killer hangover?"

"Yeah. And, shh." She put a hand to her head, trying to magically make the headache disappear. "What happened last night?"

Barney laughed. "I'm not surprised you don't remember anything. You drank a lot of eggnog."

"Eggnog? How did I get drunk off eggnog?"

"They spike it with rum."

"Oh." She looked to her side, quickly picking up the aspirin and water, and taking it in one gulp. "What happened?"

"You nearly took your shirt off for all my colleagues."

Robin winced. "Barn, I'm so sorry-"

"Don't worry. I had your back. We're married, which means we're a team. And, what husband in their right mind is going to let their _wife_ strip for their coworkers?"

"Okay, good. Thank you." She kissed him. "Now, I really wanna go back to sleep."

Barney smiled and pushed her over in the bed to lie beside her, pulling her into his arms as he did so. "Now that's an idea I agree with."

…

 **A/N**

 **This is really rushed, I'm sure you can tell. I'm so sorry, but Christmas is coming up, and I have early Christmas celebrations with family, so I'm cooking and cleaning everything to make my place presentable, lol. Hope you guys understand :)**


	10. Blizzard

**A/N**

 **All these author notes are just gonna be apologies. So, lemme repeat. I'm so sorry. This challenge is so much harder, with Christmas shopping, and wrapping, and getting together with friends and family, and rarely have time to write. I probably won't finish this challenge. It's gonna be super hard to get so many chapters out in eight days, so I'm just going to catch myself up to 12-17-18 or 17-12-18 depending on where you live. Sorry, and I hope everyone understands that I really am trying my hardest. You guys are the absolute greatest :)**

…

Barney paced the living room, staring at the phone in his hand. Outside, the snow was getting harder. New York was getting hit with a pretty big snow storm. An hour ago, everyone had been instructed to stay indoors and not go outside. Robin was supposed to be home three hours ago. He had called her fifteen times, scared as hell. She hadn't picked up once. She should've been home before the snow even started.

There was more. It was December 17th. Their engagement anniversary. The entire night he had planned was out the window thanks to the impromptu blizzard, so he had already had to change plans. The whole apartment was covered in candles and rose petals, and her favourite Chinese takeaway food was in the oven, being kept warm.

"Okay, that's enough." Barney said out loud. He got the food from the oven and put it in a bag, then grabbed a few candles, a couple of handfuls of rose petals and a bouquet of roses he had bought. They were doing this at her office, assuming she was there.

…

"Oh, thank god you're here, babe." Barney cried, entering WWN's studio to see Robin. He rushed forward, pulling her into his arms.

"Hey." She whispered, returning the hug. "What's up?"

"There's a frickin snow storm outside, which, by the way, already has a death toll of 12, and you weren't answering your phone. You scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry. My phone's flat." She pulled away and looked him in the eyes. "You shouldn't be out in the storm either. Don't do that again, okay?"

"Okay." Barney smiled and took her hand. "Now, it's been a year since you said yes, so if you would like to join me on the roof…"

"Are you out of your mind? It's snowing, you moron. We'll die."

Barney smiled. "Okay, your office it is then."

"Sure."

"It'll be better in there anyway. More privacy."

Robin rolled her eyes. "Is sex _all_ you think about?"

"No! I think about you a lot, and how lucky I am."

Robin smiled. "I'm just as lucky. I love you."

"I love you too, Mrs Stinson." He kissed her forehead, thinking about just how fortunate he is that she said yes on that rooftop last year.

…

 **A/N**

 **It's short, I know. I'm working on getting Happily Ever After, and Lyrics of Our Lives out. Hope this wasn't too sappy.**


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